MU adds seasoning to its lacrosse teams
Golden Eagles welcome return of ‘super seniors’
Megan Menzuber knows plans can change quickly.
She had her senior season of lacrosse at Marquette cut short by the coronavirus pandemic after just 10 games. After the campus closed, she went back to her hometown of Chanhassen, Minnesota, to remotely finish her degree in marketing from the College of Business Administration. She had a full-time job lined up in business-to-business sales.
But, with plenty of time to think while self-isolating, the abrupt end to her athletic career gnawed at Menzuber.
“Now that I was home, done with college and done with lacrosse, I realized that I was not ready to be,” she said. “That's when I made the decision to go back.”
Menzuber took advantage of the NCAA allowing a fifth season for seniors in spring sports that were ended prematurely by coronavirus. She enrolled in MU's MBA program and will be back at Valley Fields for the Golden Eagles next season.
Menzuber will be joined by three fellow “super seniors” on the MU women's lacrosse team.
The men's team also has four seniors returning for a fifth season.
Connor McClelland didn't need as much time as Menzuber to ponder his future. He deferred his graduation until next year and will add a minor. McClelland only played in three of MU's seven games due to injury, so he'll get a chance for a much better ending to his college career.
“I was thinking about it a little bit, but I knew in my heart that I wanted to go back to Milwaukee and play in Marquette for one more year,” McClelland said.
“College is the best time of your life and at Marquette it's been amazing for the first four years. And this fifth year hopefully it goes well like the other years.”
Unique situation
This is an unprecedented move from the NCAA and it is not without its logistical challenges.
Lacrosse is an “equivalency” NCAA sport with men’s teams allowed 12.6 scholarships per season and the women’s teams 12. Those scholarships can be divided up with several athletes taking percentages that add up to a full one. Academic aid is often added to help out those with smaller percentages of scholarships.
For next season, the NCAA will not count fifth-season “super seniors” under the scholarship limits. Schools determine how much aid they are willing to provide, which can be tough for athletic departments that took revenue hits this spring.
Many schools decided not to offer fifth seasons to their spring athletes, including the powerhouse programs of the Ivy League.
Like most universities, MU faces an uncertain financial future. The school has furloughed many employees, including some from the athletic department.
“We were able to work with our current budgets and with the university to provide a small amount of aid for those students,” said Danielle Josetti, MU executive associate athletic director and the administrator for lacrosse. “For some of them, it wasn’t maybe the amount that they received in the past, but we tried to package it nicely and it worked for them, worked for the university.
“We felt compelled to do what we could. I don’t want to overdramatize it, but it’s very traumatic to have your senior year just ripped away from you like that.
“So I think it was really nice that we were able to provide something to work with those students.”
Not normal
The eight returning lacrosse players also mean bigger teams than expected next season, but both MU coaches are OK with that.
“Now we’ll have 46 people on our team,” MU women’s coach Meredith
Black said. “Which is huge. I think my biggest team one year was 42 people and that was big.
“Nothing’s normal about any of this, so who cares? We’ll go with the flow.”
MU men’s coach Andrew Stimmel had plenty of new experiences in his first season in charge of the program. One he might not have again is talking with 12 seniors about their options in adding a fifth season.
“My goal for all of those guys was to treat them individually and work through what opportunities they had,” Stimmel said. “Kind of what they would be turning down if they did come back and what situation they were walking back into.
“I think on the outside looking in, it’s easy to say ‘Oh, just play another year.’ But situationally all these guys are coming from a different place.”
Stimmel is excited about getting four players back who boast loads of experience.
“I really do think it’s going to help us,” Stimmel said. “It’s going to help us build on the momentum I think we were establishing this year. We have high hopes for those guys and in reality they’re going to be a big part of our success next year.”
McClelland is looking forward to more time with Stimmel.
“This was our first year with him,” McClelland said. “When you’re a senior, you had the same coach for three years and then a new coach comes in, it takes a little time to adjust to what Coach Stimmel wanted us to have for our culture.”
College programs have a natural life cycle with four-year players. Players graduate, underclassmen become upperclassmen, new players arrive. Both McClelland and Menzuber said their younger teammates understand the circumstances.
“This wasn’t expected for them, too,” Menzuber said. “They were already looking toward next year, whether it’s with playing, whether it’s with leadership.
“Obviously with all four of us coming back, it’s more than expected. So we definitely don’t want to disrupt next year’s team.
“But I think everyone said that no one knows what it’s like getting your senior season and senior year of college taken from you. So I think it’s going to be a great year.”